Uber Eats rolls out AI assistant for grocery shopping
Add Axios as your preferred source to
see more of our stories on Google.
Illustration: Gabriella Turrisi/Axios
Uber is rolling out a new AI-powered assistant in Uber Eats that builds grocery carts from text or image prompts — automating a traditionally time-consuming task.
Why it matters: Grocery shopping is emerging as a proving ground for AI assistants that move beyond recommendations into planning and execution, a step toward more agentic AI.
Driving the news: Uber announced the launch of Cart Assistant in the U.S. Wednesday, a beta feature that turns grocery lists and photos — including handwritten notes or recipe screenshots — into checkout-ready baskets in a few taps.
- The tool launches on iOS this week, with an Android version planned.
How it works: Cart Assistant is built directly into the Uber app for Uber Eats grocery shopping.
- Users can access the feature by selecting a grocery store in the Uber Eats section of the app and tapping the purple Cart Assistant icon on the store page.
- They can type a list or upload an image, and the assistant builds a cart using real-time availability and pricing, along with a user's past orders.
What they're saying: Cart Assistant is part of Uber's broader strategy to build AI agents across its platform — as long as they add clear value for users, Praveen Neppalli Naga, Uber's chief technology officer, told Axios.
- "You're in full control of it," Naga said of ordering with the new feature. "Once the cart is built, you can go edit and change the quantity and then replace it with some other brand that you want."
- Uber uses public AI models alongside its own technology, Naga said.
What we're watching: The shift toward agentic AI is testing how much consumers are willing to hand over.
- Grocery platforms are competing on how much friction they can remove, including Instacart's new Preference Picker, which lets shoppers choose details like banana ripeness.
More from Axios:
